La Bella Luna
by magicmumu
Summary: When Leviathan Werewolf hunters threaten the Martinelli pack, new allies join the fight. (crossover with Once Upon a Time, Cartinelli and Ruby/Daniel Sousa pairings)


La Bella Luna

by Erin Griffin

Fandom: Agent Carter/Once Upon a Time (some vague mentions of Twilight) AU

Pairing: Angie Martinelli/Peggy Carter (Cartinelli), Ruby Lucas/Agent Sousa

Rating: Mature for hunting/hunter violence and some sexy times

Disclaimer: I own nothing

Notes: This story is nothing more than me trying to scratch every headcanon itch I've had since stumbling into the Cartinelli Dumpster, and putting as many of them into one universe while it all makes sense. So far: Steve as Angie's childhood friend (though I go into that a lot later), Ruby and Angie as friends, Werewolf!Cartinelli, bb!wolf Angie, and some other things I can't mention or they would spoil this fic completely. Writer and reader interest will determine if I write any sequels. I am really proud of this one though, so if you do too, please show me some love and I will see what I can do about more in this universe. (I just really love the idea of Ruby and Angie being besties okay.)

I.

Angie sighed as she counted the change on the counter. At least she broke a dollar in tips that night. "I got a dollar five. You?"

"I don't know how I got twice that. Two twenty five," Ruby said, coming around the counter to stand before her.

"It helps that the crippled cop came in," Angie replied.

"Don't call him that," Ruby said in a rough tone, but she grinned a moment later and said, "but you're right that most of it was from him."

"You ever gonna stop pawing around 'im and' just- you know... fondue?"

"You know we can't do that," Ruby said automatically as she leaned on the counter. Angie sighed. She of the two of them knew just how much they couldn't do that. Her father would shoot her with a silver bullet himself if he ever knew she wanted to take a human lover. Ruby, who wasn't born of the Martinelli pack, had a bit more freedom in that regard, but she had such a strong sense of loyalty to Angie's father that she would do anything to protect them all. Angie, being the daughter of the Alpha, had to find a mate who would help her lead the pack someday should anything happen to her family. With Ruby there as a warrior of the pack, Angie was certain her parents wanted that wolf to be Ruby, but as much as she adored and looked up to the older, darker wolf, she knew they would never be more than best friends. For one, she had that crush on the cop, and Angie knew that Ruby's mysterious past would always be there somewhere in the background of their relationship. Angie liked just being friends with the mysterious woman, taking in each small piece of new information she got in a hope she will understand Ruby someday.

"Yeah," Angie said, feeling somewhat bad for her friend. She hoped that the cop could become an ally to the pack, for that is the only way that Ruby would allow herself to be with him. Angie still wasn't sure just what happened between her and the cop, just that he was the first person she had met when she arrived in New York from where she was from, and that Ruby thought his attempts to find out who she is was adorable. After that first run in, Angie's brother had caught her scent and asked Angie to allow her to stay with her at the Griffith for a night. Then, when Ruby had joined them for the full moon at their home upstate, Angie's father had taken a liking to her and told her she was allowed to stay with them. Angie was a little worried that the cop, by now known to them as Agent Sousa, found out that Ruby was working with Ruby at the Automat, but he seemed harmless enough. He got coffee, sometimes a full breakfast, and tipped as much as the meal itself and then left for work. "Not that I got my eye out," Angie said a moment later. "I guess that is one saving grace."

"No crush on Mr. Fancy as you call him, who comes in sometimes?"

"No crush on Mr. Nobody, Rubes, you know that. 'Sides, I know him. He's a wolf from the Jarvis pack from England, and mated to a really pretty thing named Anna. I call 'im Mr. Fancy because I used to call him that as a pup and he hated it."

"In this day and age, I'm really happy that in the pack you can be with anyone, as long as they aren't human."

"In this day and age," Angie retorted -boy, did Ruby speak strangely sometimes- "that doesn't give us much to go on. There are only six wolf packs in the state, two of which have only the alphas left - and packs that were forced to join together, so I don't know how much of a good thing that is."

Ruby looked up at Angie, considering the wolf before her. "You only talk like this when you've been to that underground club. When did you manage to go without me?"

"Two nights ago," the younger woman admitted, knowing Ruby would otherwise know that she was lying.

"Why didn't you take me?"

"My mother's been needing your services in our territory lately. I wasn't sure if you'd have to help her that night or not. I wasn't sure if you'd want to, anyway. I know you fancy women too sometimes, but with your crush on the agent, I didn't think you'd be interested."

"I've gone with you before whether or not I was feeling... whatever for Agent Sousa. I think your parents would prefer if I was with you, Princess-"

"Never call me that again-" Angie snapped, knowing there was no bite to it, and that Ruby would continue to call her this, anyway.

"-and wouldn't like knowing you were alone somewhere where I can't protect you."

"I know. I don't think I can go back anyway."

"Because of the rumors of hunters popping up?"

"Well, yes, but... There was another wolf there. My senses aren't nearly as good as yours in this form, but even my weak nose could tell someone was there who may have sensed who I really am. I had one dance and then I was out of there." Angie deliberately left out the small detail that the woman she had a chance to dance with was the wolf she sensed, but knew that Ruby would have her skins if she knew that tidbit of the night. Nor could she tell her that for a wolf, that woman hadn't smelled quite right, but she had managed to lure Angie in anyway before she could contemplate all of the possible reasons why this could be. After the song had ended, the woman had hurried out of there as if Hitler himself were after her. Angie felt this was best, as she wasn't sure how the night would have ended otherwise. She had left after gathering her coat again.

Ruby was quiet for a moment. She watched as Angie put seventy five cents into a small jar next to the grill, where Cook would get to it the next morning. It was something that Angie had started doing when she realized that Cook was doing just as much hustling as she did, and got paid the same without the tips. Since a lot of her needs came from her pack, she didn't miss the money, but loved griping about lack of tips regardless. Ruby did the same, putting one of the two dollar bills and a quarter into the jar. Since Ruby had been very well cared for by the Martinelli pack, she didn't miss it either, and often put half of hers in the jar, and shared the rest with Angie so that they both ended up with about the same amount each night. When Ruby turned back to Angie, she asked, "So, who was she?" The older wolf kept her eyes down at the counter, but Angie did her best to hide her blush anyway.

"I don't know. Don't matter."

"And the wolf you sensed?"

"I don't know," Angie admitted.

"Was it the dance partner?"

"God, Rubes. How do you know me so well so quickly?" the younger wolf asked exasperatedly.

Ruby smirked as she took the tie out of her hair. Angie never understood the strange ways Ruby preferred to keep her hair, but no one sneered at her for it, so she let it slide. She was still curious about the Red streaks in her hair when they had first met, earning the undesired nickname of Red for about thirty seconds. Long brunette strands danced across the older wolf's shoulders now. "You think she knows who you are?"

"I don't think so," Angie said. "She hasn't come here. I made sure to keep checking. I don't smell her anywhere and if you did, you certainly would have said something before now."

"You're right about that," Ruby said with a nod. "I haven't felt anything out of the ordinary, so..."

"Yeah, but that ain't sayin' much, Red," Angie said as she wiped down a couple of the tables. She looked up at the other wolf sheepishly. "Sorry. I forgot you don't like being called that."

Ruby was quiet for a moment as she picked up the other rag and went to the tables near the door to the L and L Automat. After a long silence, she said, "Only you. And only sometimes," she decided.

"Really?" Angie asked. She knew this meant Ruby was letting her in more. She knew there was something to the name. It could have been a nickname that someone of her past had given her and she didn't want more memories triggered than necessary. Maybe, if she allowed this nickname from Angie, the younger wolf would get the story behind the nickname, and more if she remained patient, which wasn't her strong suit.

Ruby smiled at the hopeful tone her friend had taken. "Yeah."

"Cool," she said, using her friend's odd lingo. A moment later she said, "Still not giving you permission to call me Princess, though."

This got a full laugh out of her friend, and she was proud of herself for this. "Noted. Come on. We've still got the ten o'clock train to catch or we'd be stranded. We don't need that the night before we're supposed to meet everyone at the hunting lodge."

"Wolf's time," Angie sighed out wistfully, using Ruby's term for their shift period under the full moon. Ruby nodded, and the two women worked in silence after that until their tasks were done. Their routine was so familiar by now that it was almost a dance now. After they finished up, Ruby grabbed her bright red cloak, handing the coat next to it to her friend. Angie, not for the first or last time, admired the red cloak as she dressed for the breezy night air outside. She knew nothing about the cloak itself except that Ruby had come into her life with it, that there was nothing in this world like it, that it made her friend look like a fairytale character in it, and that Angie really, REALLY wanted one of her own. She had seen Ruby remain in human form even as the moonlight shone upon the pack, and the brunette had only been without it once, when Angie's mother couldn't make it to the hunting lodge and needed to stay Human in New York City.

Angie and Ruby turned lights off and locked the doors after them, and then the two women left the Automat, unaware of the brown eyes that followed their forms down the street. The woman sniffed, taking in the scents in the air. Yes, this was it. The scent was familiar, and she'd have spoken to the woman from a few nights ago had it not been for the other, darker wolf that remained beside her dancing partner. She didn't know who this other wolf was - she barely knew who her dancing partner was- but her scent wasn't on the younger wolf when she had danced with her that night. The fact that she didn't smell the other wolf on her dancing partner (as well as the fact that she was at an underground club for queer women) meant she wasn't mated to her, but the brunette woman had a scent she didn't recognize, and that kept Peggy Carter from entering the Automat that night...

II.

Ruby slowly untied her red cloak around her neck and let it slide down her arm before she caught it before it could hit the ground. Her eyes were yellow, and she had them trained to the younger woman in front of her. Angie was slowly shifting already, even though she hadn't yet left the hunting lodge. Her arms and face had begun to grow light brown fur, her teeth protruding slightly. Even so, her ears grew, but fell into the flopped ears that often got her made fun of. Angie saw the smirk from her best friend and growled out, "Shut up, Red," just before her mouth stretched into a snout, the brunette's name a little more than a grunt. She hated how young of a pup she looked, even though she was only three or four years (at least, that she knew of) younger than her friend. Her coffee colored fur made her seem even younger as a wolf pup in comparison to Ruby. It didn't help that she had such a young Human face for her age, as if she was no older than seventeen when she was almost twenty four now. She hoped her wolf would mature into something more intimidating, and her Human form into a form that looked her age. She also looked forward to her senses becoming sharper as well in her Human form. Red let out a chuckle, but that was before she, too, felt the affects of the moonlight and shifted into her form.

Red was larger than a lot of the wolves in the Martinelli pack, the exception being Angie's father, who was the natural born Alpha of the pack, and her cousin Franny, who was really tall in both forms. Frankie, Angie's brother came in a close second to that. Ruby looked ferocious as she always did in her large form as yellow eyes looked to the blues of Angie's form. It was no secret that Ruby was a different kind of werewolf. The only other kind of werewolf that Angie was aware of were the Native tribes around concentrated mostly in the Northwest, but they had a sort of mind link that Ruby didn't seem to have with them. No matter what type of werewolf her friend was, Angie thought, as she always did that she was glad that Ruby was on their side. As soon as Ruby took the cloak into her mouth and darted off, Angie hurried after her friend. She loved wolf's time, the shift, and the running. She wasn't a fan of the rest of it. She was glad her position in the pack made it so that Angie only had to worry about running, as the larger wolves formed a hunting party with the exception of her father, who suffered an injury not long before Ruby had joined the pack. Angie enjoyed being a little different from the rest of the world for three nights a month, but she wished for more. She wished she didn't feel as if something was missing, and the closest she could feel to whole was running with Ruby. As she watched her friend's tail before her, she wished she knew more about her friend.

Ruby suddenly brought her head up, and took a hard right in her running. Angie's paws slid in the earth in her attempt to copy the movement. She made too much noise and were she Human, she would have cringed. Ruby rushed towards a large group of bushes, crouching low. Angie followed suit, and only then did she sense what her friend must have: They weren't alone. She wished, not for the first or last time, that her pack like the werewolves of the Northwest, shared that same mind link just so she knew what her friend was thinking. Angie wanted to tell Red that what she could sense was familiar, but she couldn't seem to think what it was in the hazy state the shift made her. The thought that it might be the wolf from the other night made her lift her head a little bit. The way Ruby stayed low made Angie feel a cold that only her Human part of her would allow her to feel. If Ruby was this aware, this ready to fight, then it only meant that a Werewolf hunter was near. Angie had never before encountered a hunter before, but the tales of how they used new technology for killing her kind scared her.

Ruby growled at her, and Angie crouched down even further, her stomach now fully to the ground. The older, darker wolf dipped her head down a little further in a nod. Then Ruby was gone. Angie didn't dare move, waiting for her friend to come back. If Ruby came back soon enough, they could continue their evening. If she had the cloak on and was in her Human form, then the night was over. If Ruby didn't come back at all...

A movement was picked up nearby: a twig snapped and Angie turned her head to her right. Then, she found herself snout to snout with another wolf. Brown eyes bore into her blue ones, and too late Angie thought to bare her teeth at the near stranger. She had recognized those eyes and, not knowing who this woman really was or if she'd wanted to harm her, Angie had to stay defensive. Still, if the woman she had danced with a few nights ago wanted to hurt her, she'd had the means to do it all this time if she had been following Angie. The woman from the other night was a long, thin gray and white wolf whose brown eyes seemed out of place for the type of wolf she was. The young Werewolf just didn't know what to do. The older werewolf only sniffed, moving her head slightly with each inhale, and then, when they both heard a click, hunched down.

Before either could fully react, Ruby's warning howl sounded. Then, there were two shots and the wolf in front of Angie went down, her right shoulder now stained with blood. Angie let out a small whine, moving further into the bushes at the same time she looked for a way out. She saw him then, a man with dark brown hair and fierce eyes. His mouth was covered, and his hands had a familiar gun in them. The man was from a group of wolf hunters known as Leviathan. Angie only knew of them through the wolves killed in her old neighborhood as a warning. Before that, she didn't know who was out to kill her kind or why. Truthfully, she still didn't know why. As far as she knew, there had never been any stories of wolves hurting Humans, especially since most packs decided over a century ago to have little to no contact with them during the full moon and walk among them as their own the rest of the month. There had been no news of the hunters getting to any of the remaining wolves, Cook's family and the Jarvis's among them, so she thought they were safe, but the rumors... There was always a little bit of truth in the rumors. And now there was a gray wolf bleeding in front of her, two shots to the shoulder, and Angie didn't know what to do. She wanted to crawl further into the bushes so that the hunter had a harder time of getting to her too, but that would have also trapped her. She also wanted to shuffle forward so that she could comfort the other wolf, or perhaps comfort her in her last moments if she had been shot with silver bullets. Then there was nothing she could do. Even in Human forms, silver was deadly, and wolves tend to die seconds after being shot. For the woman to have two shots to the shoulder... Angie was surprised the woman she danced with was still breathing.

Angie was relieved to see a flash of dark, nearly black fur as the hunter went down with a grunt that had been drowned out by Ruby's angry growling. Angie had never heard her best friend be so ferocious and was again glad that it was on her behalf. She wasn't worried for Ruby's safety so much because of her size. Being a different kind of wolf meant that she was also not affected by silver as the other wolves were. Once Ruby was attached to the man, Angie bolted out from the bushes and threw her body at the man's side, forcing him to the ground. Ruby nipped at her jaw for her efforts, and Angie knew she was being scolded for moving from the bushes, but she couldn't let her friend risk it alone. Silver bullets were still bullets. Yes, there was more risk on her part, but the man's gun was downward at his left as Ruby and Angie had him on the right. He lay unmoving as Ruby's jaw had locked around the man's throat and had effectively snapped it on the way down. The wolves breathed heavily, Ruby's ear flickering as she listened for other hunters. Finally the dark wolf stared at Angie sharply before she ran off, Angie assumed to gether cloak so she could lecture her properly.

Angie turned to the gray wolf then, letting out a small whine when she saw that she was motionless. Angie saw the huffs of air as the other wolf fought for her life, but even in this form, the younger wolf knew what would happen. She was, however, surprised that the grey wolf was even still alive. Silver bullets meant seconds to live, but she had gotten two shots to the shoulder and she was still somehow breathing. Angie took a few steps closer, lowering herself to nudge at the gray wolf. She wasn't sure what this would do, but brown eyes were staring at her, slowly closing again. Angie nudged the wolf again, which seemed to do the trick. The dancing partner from a couple of nights prior slowly shifted, crawling forward until a voice was heard above them.

"Don't think you can get away just because I am in human form now. Not that you can with silver bullets," Ruby said, reaching into her newly donned cloak. When she got growls in response, she said, "Oh hush, I am going to help you." She took out a familiar brown pouch. At least, it was familiar to Angie. She had seen Red use it twice before, both in the Martinelli hunting lodge, and both times the effects enhanced their lifestyle. The first time when she sprinkled the dust at the front step of the lodge, their home was almost impossible to spot the next full moon, and the second time somehow made the windows so the moonlight didn't affect them inside. Angie wanted to use the 'M' word, but wasn't sure, with who she and her family were, if it was the right word or not. She hadn't ever heard of anyone ever using actual magic, just the garlic and the incense that were supposed to ward off other supernatural beings, that is, if they too existed. Seeing as Angie never saw any vampires or the like, she wasn't sure what all was out there.

Both Angie and the gray wolf watched as Ruby took some of the purple powder from the satchel and walked closer, nodding as she looked the oldest wolf in the eye. The gray wolf stayed still, and allowed for Ruby to apply the powder to her wounds. Immediately, the silver bullets protruded from the wounds until they fell into Ruby's open palm. Angie knew the silver wouldn't have affected her best friend, but it still worried her each time, as if Ruby would one day no longer be the exception to that Werewolf danger. When Angie looked to the gray wolf, she was on her feet, the wounds on her shoulder closed, but not completely gone. "I don't understand why the bullet holes are still there," Ruby said with a tilted head. The gray wolf gestured her head in the direction of the bushes, and Angie went off towards it, sniffing for the gray wolf's sent. She found a lump in the ground under one of the trees, the smell of fresh dirt alerting her to the buried item more than the extended scent of the wolf. She brought the brown carry bag to the wolves. The gray wolf nudged the side with her nose until Ruby opened the pocket and revealed two syringes. "What are these?" She got only a short grunt of a sound from the wolf. Taking the hint, she removed the cap and administered the syringe, despite Angie's small whine. Immediately, the gray wolf shuddered, much like the very first transformation, and she once again became the woman from the other night, naked now. Angie looked away as Ruby shuffled through the bag and gave the older woman her clothes. After the sound of donning clothing stopped, Angie turned back to look at the woman. There was a moment of silence before finally Ruby asked, "Are you okay?"

"Yes," said the woman in an English accent, who looked about three years older than Ruby in human form. "I… don't know what you have done, but it saved my life. Thank you."

"D'you know him?" Ruby asked, jerking her head towards the fallen hunter nearby.

"Not personally. He was from a group of Werewolf hunters called Leviathan. They were more active during the war when the Human war distracted people away from the world of Werewolves like us, so they gained more power. He… He killed my pack, small as it was."

"They're the reason we're going extinct," Ruby said with disgust. The woman only nodded to this. "I'm sorry about your pack. I know it doesn't mean much in the long run, but…"

"I understand... I think," the woman's head tilted slightly to take in Ruby's odd wording, but then continued, "and thank you." The woman looked over to Angie, who took her gaze off of her as soon as their eyes met. "Can't she shift as well?" she asked a moment later.

"Not until she gets inside."

The new woman seemed shocked by this. "The moonlight doesn't filter through the window?"

"You have a serum that shifts you back to your human form?" Ruby asked in return.

To Ruby's surprise, the woman smiled widely. "Touche'."

"You tell me yours, I'll tell you mine," Ruby offered.

"I do have much to say. I know I am trespassing, but I need your pack to know that I am here to help, to warn you."

"Seeing as you took two silver bullets for Ange here, I think I have the time to listen to anything you have to say. Come on, we'll take this inside. If nothing else, we owe you a meal and a bed for a little while. At least until those heal completely," Ruby said, gesturing to the shoulder. Though there was no blood and the wounds looked pretty scabbed over, Ruby was worried that her plan hadn't worked.

"No, I believe we are already even. Whatever you did for me… It saved me. I will only be here a little longer and then I will go."

Ruby nodded. "Well, whatever you need until then, most of it will probably be found in the lodge." Ruby looked to Angie, and when their eyes met, Angie tilted her head in question. "You think your dad will mind?" Angie shook her head, and then began trotting towards the Martinelli pack's hunting lodge. She knew what Ruby had meant by 'Tell you mine if you tell me yours'. Ruby was going to let go of some of her secrets, secrets her friend hadn't been able to tell her for the almost year they had known each other. She didn't like that Ruby could tell this stranger and not someone she had admitted to liking as a best friend and sister only a couple of months prior. She didn't like that this woman had something to tell them, that she had risked coming onto another wolf pack's territory to take out a hunter alone. She didn't like that this woman's scent made her gums itch.

III.

Ruby, not to anyone's surprise, had been right when she said the woman would be accepted in at least for the night. All she had to do was direct Angie's brother to the hunter, and Mr. Martinelli gave the order to remove the hunter's head and give a warning to anyone else a part of Leviathan. Angie felt the hint would already be well received, but she was glad that the risk to her pack was lessened now. When Frankie got back, he offered Peggy the largest share of his kill, which she took a small portion of before she was ushered into one of the rarely used spare rooms. There Angie (now Human), Ruby and the new woman stood, all unsure of what to do and who should speak first. Knowing that she was going to soon learn more about her best friend, Angie was determined to stay silent. However, it was the new woman who spoke first.

"My name is Peggy Carter," she said simply.

"Ruby," the dark wolf said when no further information came. She then waved her hand towards the youngest woman and said, "Angie." Peggy nodded to this. "So… What's your story?"

Peggy hesitated, and then she went to the window. She looked at the frame, then the curtains before looking outside to the moon, her face in awe. "You know most of it, I think. Well, what is important to you. As I said, during the war there were a few groups that used the distraction to try and kill off the Werewolves. New technology was funded through the war, and I had spent a lot of time trying to find prototypes of these weapons and keep them from being forged. With Leviathan, we were too late. Whenever I found weapons in one location and hunters in another, more would appear. They got closer and closer, and then… they killed him. My mate. His family had already been targeted a long time ago just before the war began, and once that particular hunter joined Leviathan, he continued his vendetta. He tried to warn his adopted family, and he succeeded, but it was a telephone call that cost his life."

"Steve was your mate," Angie said as she took everything in.

Peggy swallowed. "Yes."

"He was like my brother," Angie said.

"Steve loved his adopted pack so fiercely that when he felt that Leviathan hunters were coming for him, he warned you first, risking his life to find a phone that could call you." Peggy paused.

Angie's eyes went wide as she figured out what had happened. "Oh Steve," she said, horrified.

"Angie?" Ruby asked.

"The call. I took it. He- Steve said to tell my father to move the pack. When I said this to my dad, I thought- I thought we would see 'im in a few months until he was done layin' low. I heard the panic in his voice though, and after he said it the line went dead." Angie went quiet for a moment.

Ruby let the silence continue as she thought of this. She didn't know much about Steve Rogers, only what the Martinelli's - mostly Angie - had told her. Steve's family had been one of the first to fall victim to hunters in the area Angie and Steve grew up. The Martinelli's took him in, as they often did for orphaned wolves or small packs. The Martinelli pack became the largest in the state, which wasn't saying much considering the fact that the pack only had about thirty wolves at the moment. Steve was a small wolf, even for his age, but he was fast. Since Angie was still a pup at the time, Steve was her running partner through the shift periods, so he had become another older brother to her. Though his wolf had yet to mature, he felt his Human form was still enough to help in the United States military when the war began. He took his best friend from the Barnes pack and enlisted. The Martinelli pack got letters up until they moved, mostly scattering for safety and only meeting up during the shift. Angie often fretted over whether the man would find them, since she hadn't had any contact with Steve since then. Angie was already somewhat convinced that he might have died after that, but her family was always hopeful, and so she had been as well up until that moment.

"After Steve died," Peggy finally went on, "I had to make sure that his family was still unharmed. I had no address or any clues as to where you had gone, but I caught a familiar scent. I didn't know what it was, just that it must have been something that lingered on his belongings. I hoped it was his family, and I was led…" She paused, glancing from Angie to Ruby, a look of uncertainty on her face.

"She knows about my desires," Angie said. Peggy nodded.

"I'm familiar with them as well," Ruby added. She wasn't sure why she felt the need to say this, but it got the older woman to continue speaking.

"I found the scent was the strongest at a club for queer women. When I found you," she spoke directly to Angie now, "I could sense him - the hunter - as well. I danced with you, hoping to let him know that you weren't alone. I didn't mean to make you feel defensive at the same time." Angie nodded. "I hoped he would have left after he saw us both. If not then, then I hoped he would when he saw you," she said looking to Ruby now, "but he was either arrogant or stupid."

"Both, I say," Ruby murmured. Then she asked, "How did you manage to survive the silver bullet?"

"Bullets. Plural," Angie added in.

"Right," Ruby agreed easily.

"Unfortunately, that is classified."

"The syringes?"

"No. I honestly…" Peggy sighed, a tear falling down the right cheek. "There were experiments on both sides, from Humans and the one Werewolf pack known as the Howling Commandos that were funded by Stark Industries. Where Leviathan wished to destroy Werewolves, we aimed to make them stronger against these hunters. The serum in the syringes was - was a way to control when we can shift back even under moonlight, and there were others that failed when tested. It is possible that one of those failed serums prolonged the inevitable, but it is uncertain which one. It took Steve… far too long to die from his wound. I thought I would meet the same fate before you had done… whatever it was you had done for me." Peggy looked at Ruby, studying her so much that the darker woman shifted from one foot to the other. "What… DID you do? What was that dust?"

Ruby and Angie locked eyes, the younger wolf's hurt look shooting through her friend and forcing her to look down. Angie had always respected Ruby's silence on where she was from or any of her past. Like the rest of her family, Angie was glad she was there in the warrior role in the pack, but she had always hoped she would earn Ruby's trust one day and she would know the truth about her. The pain of hearing about her adopted brother's death on top of the knowledge that Ruby couldn't trust her but a stranger with those secrets was almost too much. Angie wanted to leave the room to lick those wounds in peace, but she wanted to know where Ruby was from, more about her Granny who was mentioned a few times, why she wasn't affected by silver bullets, where she had gotten her cloak and, like Peggy, what that dust was. "I don't know how to begin to tell you where I came from - I never could," Ruby said, more to Angie than to the new woman.

"Why? What is so wrong?" Angie said.

"N-Not… wrong. It's… complicated. And - Well, I don't think I am supposed to exist here and yet, here I am. Where I'm from…" Ruby bit her lip and shut her eyes tightly. "Where I'm from, magic is real." There was a silence.

Angie snorted after a moment, startling both of the older wolves in the room. "There is no other way to explain you away, Red. You're bigger 'n any wolf I ever seen or heard of, you don't keep your own eye color in the shift, you talk funny - Hell, no offence to ya, but you looked funny when I first metcha, an' that was before you started sprinklin' that dust everywhere."

"You knew?"

"We're shapeshifters. We're what the Humans read in their stories and see in the cinemas. We aren't real to them, but we know better. I never knew what kinda wolf you were, Rubes, but you sure weren't one of us. We all knew you were… more."

"You're-?" Ruby shook her head, glancing to Peggy, who remained quiet as she tried to take this in. It was difficult to tell just what the older woman was thinking, and Ruby was glad she couldn't see the woman's thought process on her face. "I'm glad that you're… taking it… so well?" Ruby said. Her eyebrows remained fixed in confusion as she tried to figure out where she was supposed to go from there, but she felt the relief that she wasn't being called crazy or worse. She was glad Angie didn't seem to see her any differently. She just wished she could get rid of the sad eyes she was getting at the moment. She took out the small brown satchel and bounced it in her hand a couple of times. "This powder is fairy dust, magic in its purest form where I am from."

"As in Peter Pan?" Angie asked.

"The very same," Ruby told her friend. At her friend's incredulous look, she swallowed and continued on. "I told you that I am not supposed to exist here. Where I am from isn't supposed to exist, according to this place. Here, I am just a fairy tale."

Angie's attention went to her friend fully now, her pupils bouncing slightly as her mind went to work. "You don't like the name Red. Your Granny, your cloak… You ain't tellin' me you're Red Riding Hood, are ya?"

Ruby looked to Peggy, who had a thoughtful frown of her own. "Yes."

"But- Red is also the big bad wolf?" Angie asked.

Ruby shut her eyes in shame. "Yes."

"Did you eat some pigs in a straw house, too?"

Ruby scowled at Angie now, but she said, "It was mud and sticks, but yes. No huffing and puffing involved. I'm just really strong... and I was really hungry." Angie's hurt was replaced with a slight glee at the thought of her friend actually being a fairy tale character. A lot of it would make more sense than the theories she had come up with in the time she knew her friend, but there were a lot of things, at the same time, that didn't add up for her.

"If you're from the land of fairy tales - an' God help me, I believe you - wouldn't you have had that basket and old clothes on when we met? Your costume was real strange, and your hair had red in it, and you talk funny, but not the way someone from the past might...?"

"This is where it is the most complicated. As a kid, I didn't know I was a Werewolf. Not until the wolf was mature. But with no training, I couldn't see during wolf's time. The wolf took over. My Granny gave me the cloak so that I didn't shift under the full moon. She made sure I always had it, but I didn't always listen. I… ate the man I loved, and that was when I knew that I was the monster people in my village feared. I had by then made a new friend. She was the heir to the kingdom I lived in. Queen Snow-"

"As in Snow White?"

"Exactly," Ruby said with a nod.

"Just… checkin'," Angie said, gesturing for her friend to continue. Ruby gave the younger wolf a warning look, but Angie only shrugged.

"Exactly Snow White. She was at the time on the run from the Evil Queen, who wanted to kill her. That is its own story and I don't think we have enough time for it tonight. I went with Snow to help her find her Prince, and then we fought for her kingdom. The victory was short lived, as a prophecy scared my friends. It said that the queen will curse our world, and would only be broken by Snow's daughter at the age of twenty eight. We were taken to this world, a land without magic - a land called Storybrooke in Maine, and there we stayed, suspended in time until the Savior came to town.

"Magic worked differently there, in the new world. When the curse broke, there was chaos after chaos in the town. My wolf re-emerged, the villains as well as the heroes found their magic and began the fight all over again. My Granny, who was already old, began to age again, and despite being wolf as well, passed away within two years. Some non-magical, useless Human cancer. My Granny…" Ruby's shook her head as her eyes misted. She took in a long, shuddered breath to collect herself. "There was nothing left in Storybrooke for me. Everyone was finding their happily ever after, and I already ruined mine when I ate Peter."

"Peter and the Wolf," Angie said with a small snicker. Ruby gave a glare this time, and Angie nearly sneered back. "If you had told me this slowly over, say, the year you've known me, Red, I would have a better reaction to all'a this, but you didn't and this is what yer gettin'. So, put your eye away. I got a Mama who makes your glare look like bashfulness. Now continue," Angie said sharply, and Ruby looked away.

"You're right, I should have told you before. I should have trusted you. I'm sorry."

Angie nodded, her eyebrows, which were knitted in slight anger, smoothed into an expression that showed concern instead. "So what happened after your grandma died?" Angie asked, her voice a little softer than it had been previously, her face sobering as she went back to thinking on what she had been told. She hadn't the courage to look at Peggy. She worried about what she thought of this whole exchange, but at least Angie knew Ruby was telling the truth. They had been around each other too long and living in the Griffith Hotel together long enough to know when the other was telling the truth. Her friend's eyes were too pleading for Angie to think any of the things she was hearing was a lie. Plus, she really did think a lot of what she was now hearing made bit more sense to her.

"After Granny died, I lost my way. I was a monster. I had no happy ending and I knew it. Everyone was finding themselves to be the person they were in the Enchanted Forest as well as the new lives the curse had given them. I wanted to die, and I almost did. When they found me…" Ruby sighed. "Because I had been a general of sorts for the House of White, I was given a chance to go through a wishing well - the only way to travel the realms - even though everyone knew they were risky. Since I had just gotten out of the hospital for what I had tried to do to myself, it was a risk I was willing to take. I was given a pouch of fairy dust and instructions to think of where I wanted to go to be happy. And then... I fell through. All I had wanted was to be with people like me and to be needed wherever I went. I didn't expect to be back in this realm, only in the 1940's."

"What does that mean? What year were you in before that?" Peggy asked, speaking for the first time in a few minutes.

"The year I was in was 2010. Well, it was close to 2013 when I went through the portal to 1947. Even so, I'm glad I did. I needed a pack and a purpose, the Martinelli's needed a warrior type wolf on their side, and Angie needed a friend who understood what she'd been going through. It all works out."

"A new Millenium. I can't even imagine what the world looked like for you," Peggy murmured.

"Makes sense now why you knew so much about the war, why you quoted that brand new movie by heart right next to me in the cinema…." Angie shook her head. Ruby was from the fairy tales AND she was from the future. Also, her older brother figure was dead. This had been a big night.

"Now that I know you are okay with this, I can tell you more later on."

Angie nodded as she thought things through. "Obviously not tonight. I've gotta-ah… I've gotta help my Ma with some things," she lied.

"And I have to get a run in or I won't be so fun the next month. You okay for the night?" Ruby asked, looking to Peggy, who nodded at her. Ruby returned the gesture and looked to Angie. "You sure you're okay with all of this?"

"I'm glad I finally know you, Red," Angie said earnestly.

"And I really am sorry it took me so long to tell you." Angie smiled weakly at this, but it didn't reach her eyes. Ruby studied her friend another moment, but knew Angie's code for 'I need time alone', and nodded. "I hope you stick around, Peggy. I'm sure the Martinelli's would take you in gladly after what you did for Angie tonight." Ruby put her hands to her hips for a fraction of a second before a hand went through her brunette hair. Then, she left the room with a squeeze to Angie's shoulder on the way out.

Angie made to follow her long enough to get to the room she slept in during wolf's time, but she had been stopped by the older woman in the room. "Wait."

Angie paused, and then turned to look at Peggy. "Hm?"

"Don't you-?" Peggy stopped. "You don't have anything to say to me?"

Angie thought about this. "Thank you for watching out for me. For… takin' those bullets for me."

"That's not… Not what I meant."

"I don't think I know what else you mean," Angie admitted.

"The dance."

"What about the dance? I realize that you were keeping the hunter away that night and I'm grateful for that."

"I… Never mind. I'm glad it all worked out in the end."

"Yeah." Angie stared at the woman a moment longer before she continued out of the room. She stopped at the door and hesitated before she said, "Thanks for the dance, English."

Part II

lV.

The Ceremony of Alphas was held on a blue moon more than two years later. That was how long it had taken Peggy to finally accept her position from warrior wolf type in the Martinelli pack and earn the respect of the Alpha enough to be in line to replace him. Mr. Martinelli had for the longest time thought the role of Alpha cursed, with the wolves dying off, then his adopted sons dying in the war, and now the reluctance of anyone to take the reigns after him. Both Peggy and Ruby had admitted at some point that they were happy enough just to have a pack again, and they would serve in any way he had needed, but it wasn't enough for Mr. Martinelli. He didn't push it, but he knew that the newest addition to the pack would have been the best leader, as his injury slowed him down. He liked Ruby, and relied on her more than ever the past couple of years, which he didn't like if Ruby also had no intention to take his place. Having survived not one but two silver bullets made the pack respect Peggy, something the woman didn't seem to understand at first. He was glad that she had come to find this truth on her own.

All of his waiting and hoping had lead the pack to this night. All thirty wolves of the pack made it to the lodge - as well as a made Werewolf pack that had known Peggy in the war, a rowdy bunch that went by the apt name of the Howling Commandos, and the only Human allowed on Martinelli hunting territory, Howard Stark - to watch the ceremony. Peggy stood, her back straight and gaze forward as Mr. Martinelli held a large buck in his arms. He was dressed up in his Sunday best, a necklace with one large tooth dangling on his chest and skins draped over his shoulders.

"For many moons now, the Martinelli pack has had an Alpha who could not join the hunt, who could not lead the wolves against our hunters. Since the Human war, we have been fortunate to have not one, but two strong warriors join us, and I am grateful that we have remained safe since then due to them. Tonight as the moon shines yellow, I pass my leadership and authority to our newest wolf sister, Peggy Carter. I trust my kin to your protection. I offer this feast to you and plead with you to keep the Martinelli pack safe so that our race can continue to prosper. Do you accept?"

Peggy dipped her head slightly as she extended her arms towards the large man before her. "Yes," she said softly, cleared her throat, and then said louder, "I accept. I vow to lead this pack and protect it until it takes my life." She took the buck into her own arms and watched as her Alpha removed the necklace and put it on her, the skins draping her shoulders a moment later. Peggy remained frozen as he did this, accepting these items as she had accepted medals after the war. Even now, she worried if she would make a good Alpha to this pack who took her in, but after the last full moon she knew everyone would follow anything she said without hesitation, and even then it astonished her.

Mr. Martinelli turned towards the other Werewolves watching the ceremony and smiled. "Please greet your new Alpha, Peggy Carter." The group clapped, stomped, and in the case of Peggy's war friends, howled as their name suggests. The attention made Peggy's face grow hot, but she was pleased to see once again that she was welcomed into this pack and into this new role within it. She dipped her head in a slight bow as the noise died down.

"Thank you," she said shyly, which only made a few of the wolves guffaw, though she was sure it was mostly her friends.

V.

The air was thick with fog now that the summer months were behind them. The ground sunk beneath Angie's paws as she trotted at an easy pace beside Ruby, the larger, darker wolf looking towards her every now and then to make sure she was still okay. She no longer had need to worry now that Angie's wolf had matured. Her ears no longer flopped over, her paws were no longer too large and her coat was thicker even as it held the same tan coloring to it. She no longer needed an escort around the territories, and after the scare of the hunter more than two years prior, Angie took it upon herself to learn to fight like a wolf. She was nowhere near as strong or skilled as Ruby or her Alpha, but she was confident in her own abilities, as rarely as they were used in hunts.

On the North side of the Martinelli territory, Angie's parents were hunting small prey and teaching the two wolf pups how to scrounge for rodent prey. The majority of the pack were on the larger hunt to celebrate the last night of feasting for the year. The next wolf's time would be colder, and food would be scarce. Besides that, the last night of wolf's time was always taken advantage of by all Werewolves. Angie could hear the familiar yips and small howls of the hunt. She was able to identify each voice as she assumed they found something. She hoped briefly that whatever had been caught could be carried back, otherwise Ruby would have to shift and carry it to the lodge in her Human form. Before her best friend had joined the pack, if the prey was large, the pack had no choice but to drag it back or lose it to the scavengers should they happen upon it before the night faded to dawn. It was tedious then, but it was for now a lost practice. Having Ruby there made many tasks easier for the pack, and the feasts thereafter larger.

There was a sound nearby the running duo, and Angie recognized her new Alpha's scent before she heard and then saw her. Ruby hurried to her, as did Angie. The gray wolf seemed hesitant before she jerked her head in the direction of the hunting party. Ruby needed nothing else, and she ran off towards her discarded red cloak. Angie slowed to a stop. It had been over two years since she had danced with Peggy and many months since they had been alone in the same space. Angie tried to keep her mind on the night, on the last chance to go for a run until the next wolf's time. She shot forward suddenly into a full sprint. She ran towards the older wolf, then in a circle around Peggy, dipped down before her Alpha so that her stomach touched the moist earth, and then stood and bolted back in the direction she had originally been jogging with Ruby. She hoped she had conveyed her desire to keep moving, if not an invitation for her Alpha to come along. Because of her, well, previous place as a princess of sorts in the Martinelli pack (as much as she hated being referred to as such), Angie rarely needed to go hunting. She did sometimes if she wanted to, but it wasn't her role. She wasn't sure what that role was now. She certainly wasn't a warrior, but she did like patrolling the grounds with Ruby. Perhaps she could hone her skills in tracking, she thought as she jumped over a small fallen branch.

Angie had only made it a few more feet before the sound of Peggy's larger bounds sounded behind her. A flash of gray and Peggy had easily passed Angie on her left. Peggy bounded back and just before she reached the younger wolf, turned back and continued running. Though it wasn't Peggy's fastest speed of running, she remained just ahead of Angie as she dodged stumps and jumped over rocks, sometimes just enough that her tail tapped Angie's light brown snout. The moon was high and full above them. They ran a small circle around the territory, avoiding the area the howling had come from as to stay out of the way of the hunting party. They knew not to go far, as it wasn't long before the final feast of wolf's time and the pack disbanded into their Human lives.

Angie turned slightly towards the lodge, but hesitated when Peggy darted a little further out, a small rumble coming from her throat as she did so. Her speed was too much for Angie to keep up, so she slowed to a stop as she tried to sense whatever it was that her Alpha had. She thought of hiding in case of another hunter, but she then told herself that she wasn't a pup and should be there to help if someone were to harm Peggy again. It would have been the least she did after the gray wolf had taken two silver bullets. Angie hoped that whatever may have been there was enough for her Alpha to handle alone, or that it was nothing to worry about. Before she could start to worry much, Peggy reemerged from the brush, a fat rabbit locked in her jaw. There was a glint in her Alpha's eyes as she slowed her run to a walk towards Angie. Peggy dropped the rabbit at Angie's paws and then the gray wolf lowered herself to a crouch. There was a silence, after which Peggy straightened and then sat, waiting.

Then, a call filtered between the two wolves as Ruby summoned them inside for the feast. Angie looked in the direction of the lodge, and then she took off again, trotting once she got a few feet away from the porch. It was then that Peggy passed her again without a glance back. She took the porch steps three at a time. "Welcome ba-" Ruby hopped to the side as Peggy snarled at her, moving into the railing a little bit while the gray wolf stalked inside the lodge. "What happened? What did I do?" Ruby asked. She seemed hurt, which didn't surprise Angie one bit. Ruby was on good terms with everyone around her, Human or Werewolf, and was generally friendly to anyone until they no longer deserved it. With Peggy as another warrior type in the pack, as well as an outsider to the Martinelli clan, the dark wolf considered Peggy as close a friend as Angie, especially since she was one of the few she could count on one hand who knew her true origins. Ruby wasn't sure what she had done to warrant the reaction she had gotten. Angie walked slowly up to Ruby, her head and tail down. A whine was all Ruby got as an answer.

Vl.

Ruby stared incredulously at her best friend. She was glad she knew the reason for her Alpha's new avoidance of her, but she also had to wonder if her friend wasn't the smartest wolf in the pack. "You know what she was doing, don't you?"

"I know… exactly what she was doing, Red," Angie said somewhat tersely, "and that is why I am - Hey what was that thing you say? - 'freaking out' right now."

"YOU'RE freaking out? Angie, she proposed to you in the only way the likes of us can propose to each other. She offered to be your provider and mate, a submissive only to you until one of you dies, and you literally ran away from her the moment I called you in for dinner. No wonder she hates me!"

"Don't put it like that…" Angie said with a blush as she wiped at an invisible stain on the table before her. Ruby didn't have the heart to tell her friend that she had been wiping the same table for almost fifteen minutes.

"How else would you like me to tell you the truth, Angie? Now she probably thinks you want ME as your mate, which is ridiculous considering how many times I had to tell your father that we're just best friends."

"Not to mention your heart's taken," Angie added unnecessarily.

"Exactly, so why did you run?"

"I have never seriously considered having a mate, not since I was a pup. Then, when I learned what my feelings for women meant, I didn't think it was possible."

"But you've been- pardon the expression - over the moon for Carter ever since she got here. I thought you'd be-"

Over the moon?" Angie glared at her friend, who only grinned. "She got a mate, Red," Angie said in a low tone a moment later.

"Wolves mate for life. For life, Angie, and his is long over. As much as you loved and respected your brother, you expect her to remain alone now?"

"Even if she got over her mate's death - which, how could she ever be? - and she wanted me, I can't be with Steve's girl. Had she been anyone else, Ruby, I would have accepted that rabbit. Steve was my runt of an older brother, but his heart was bigger 'n' brighter than any full moon. I could never, NEVER dishonor his memory like that." Angie tossed her rag onto the table in disgust.

"Is that why you haven't been in the same room as her for more than a few minutes the last few months?" When Angie winced, Ruby said, "Don't think no one's noticed."

"I-"

"Most of all her," Ruby stressed.

Angie's head went down again as her entire face went hot. "I thought it was just gonna be a pup crush on her, but when my wolf was maturin'… I just wanna bite her, to smell her. I didn't want there to be a day I couldn't control myself around her."

"Anything else holding you back?"

"What more do you need?" Angie snapped. "She's my brother's mate. She's our Alpha now. Even if I ever admitted to being a princess of the pack back then, I am not anymore. I don't even do anything useful as a wolf or a Human, so… what right have I?"

"First of all: Stop that."

Angie rolled her eyes. "And second?"

"Second: She took not one, but two silver bullets for you-"

"She was protecting me from Steve's hunter," Angie shot back. "Nice try, Red."

Ruby frowned. Angie didn't know. She remembered the night three weeks after Peggy had been shot when the woman had asked if the fairy dust had stopped working. When Ruby had wondered why, she learned that Peggy was still feeling tingles of pain from the bullet wounds, even though they were healed by then. Over the following two years they would come and go, but the fact that Angie didn't know about this surprised the brunette. "I don't understand," Ruby said more to herself than to her friend after a moment's consideration. When she looked at Angie again, she brought her focus back to the conversation again. "I really think she is genuine, Angie. I don't think she is out to hurt you in the end. I've NEVER seen her so angry with anyone as she was with me that last night of wolf's time - and we've all met Howard Stark."

Angie let out a laugh. "Oh Howie…" she said fondly, remembering the day he had stumbled into the Martinelli territory looking for Peggy.

"She seems really hurt that you rejected her."

"I didn't want that," Angie said softly.

"What… do you want?"

Angie's jaw tensed. She wished she still had the rag in her hand so she had something to do to get away from the conversation. "It just ain't happenin'," Angie finally said. "Let's finish up and return to the Griffith."

"That's… something else I want to speak with you about."

"Yeah?" Angie said, picking up her rag again and wiping the table down once more before finally moving on.

"A while back your father suggested the pack start moving closer together, and I was wondering if you minded if I left to live a little further uptown."

"It's a free country," Angie replied. "I'll miss ya, but I will love having my apartment back more," she teased.

"Mutt."

"As you always say, I am pure blooded Martinelli Werewolf genes here. Now, the kid you have with… well anyone…"

"Finish that sentence and I will bite you. With my human teeth."

"Ouch, and they hurt more because they are so dull," Angie complained.

"Exactly. Why don't you move somewhere with me?"

"Because I really like the Griffith. I like my freedom away from the pack. I can't… go where I wish to go if someone's always askin' after my whereabouts."

"I understand. They are just worried about. A little less when I was there, but now that I might not be near you soon…?"

"I'll be fine."

"What if, heaven forbid, there is another hunter?"

Angie scowled. She didn't want to think about that. She didn't want to think about Peggy Carter, either. She shook her head, but otherwise didn't answer her best friend's question. A moment later, she admitted, "I don't know, Red. I just want to not feel this way. Bein' away from the family, ironically, makes me feel a little less lonely. They all have their roles in the pack, their decent jobs in their Human lives... I love you all, but I'm a little…" She sighed.

"Something's missing," Ruby supplied.

"An' I don't want to commit to her or to anyone just because I need to fill something in myself I should be fillin' FOR myself," she said. "I don't want to feel like this for Peggy anymore."

Ruby tilted her head to the side and and considered her friend, taking in how small the younger wolf seemed just then. "Is it so impossible that she feel the same for you?"

"If it ain't, it feels like it should be, if that makes any sense," Angie replied.

"It makes sense in the way that it doesn't, and you're being an idiot."

"I'm not-"

"And a coward."

"Not a warrior wolf type, Red, so workin' my pride is useless. I'll remain a proud coward," Angie declared.

Ruby followed Angie around the table and placed a hand on her shoulder. "I just want my friends to be happy, and if that happiness is possible, then…" She ended with a shrug. Angie swallowed.

"Let's just get home, okay?" Ruby sighed and went to work on her own tasks without another word.

VII.

Ruby didn't bring it up again, but then, she really didn't have to. Her reasons for getting Angie to talk to Peggy was more selfish than she'd led on. She really did want her friends happy, but she also wanted her friend back, and Ruby hated it when people were mad at her. This time, it also happened to be the new Alpha of her pack that was upset with her, and the idea unsettled her. She was both happy and worried when her friend entered the automat the next day and sat down at one of Angie's tables. When a moment went by and Ruby heard a surprised gasp from Angie, the brunette looked towards the sound.

Angie, hunched under the counter now, looked up to see Cook's confused expression. "Hide me and I'll give ya my tips for the day," she hissed.

"You do that, anyway."

"Because you bust your rump as much as the rest of us do," Angie murmured to him, waving in a failed attempt to get his attention away from her.

Cook chuckled. "And here I thought it was because you loved me."

"I do love ya, you lug, 'bout as much as a girl like me can love a fella." Cook laughed again, and went to check on the food he had on the grill.

Ruby rolled her eyes and went towards Peggy. "Angie's on break," she lied, her eyes never glancing at the older wolf. When her Alpha seemed less than enthusiastic about seeing Ruby instead, she added, "sorry to disappoint you."

"I'm- I'm not…" Peggy began.

"And anyway, I'm glad you're here," Ruby continued on when it looked as though Peggy wasn't going to continue.

"Why is that?"

"Well for starters, I have never seen you in here, so it is a nice change of pace."

"Change of…" Peggy said slowly. If anything were to force Peggy Carter into believing that Ruby Lucas was a fairytale character from the future, she suspected the woman's speech patterns if not the actual magic in the gunshot wounds in her shoulders would have given her the proof she needed.

"And well second, I am glad that I won't have to wait until the next shift to ask you my question.

Curiosity won out for Peggy, who seemed less hesitant to speak to Ruby now. She watched as Ruby looked around quickly before she sat down at the opposite seat to her Alpha. Her eyes remained down. "What did you wish to ask me?" Peggy wondered after a moment of silence.

"Well… I was wondering when you'd invite those Commandos back."

Peggy's eyebrows went up at this. "Any… 'Commando' in particular?"

Ruby's cheeks went a little red. "Perhaps, but they're all great fun," she admitted.

"Since the meeting place would have to be at the Martinelli home, I'll have to speak with Mr. Martinelli first. Should he grant permission… I can extend as many invitations as you wish."

This only made Ruby nod with a smile on her face. Her cheeks were no longer flushed. "Thank you," the brunette said. Both women went into a silence as they thought of what had played between them. They knew what Ruby was trying to do here, as Ruby still brought lunches to Agent Daniel Souza sometimes, whether she wanted to deny her feelings for the man or not. Ruby was trying to show Peggy that she didn't have any feelings past friendship for Angie and that there was no competition for the young wolf's affection.

Finally, Peggy said, "Listen Ruby, I'd like to apologize for snapping at you the other night."

"You just made it up to me," Ruby said lightly.

Peggy nodded, and a moment later she smiled sheepishly. "You know."

"I've always known a little bit of somethin', Pegs," Ruby replied. Her smile was warm.

"Has she… been alright?"

"Yeah, she's fine. She's just confused."

"Good. Well, not that she is confused, but that she's no worse off than that." Peggy's sigh lifted her shoulders and chin. "I've only got a few minutes before I am needed at work. I just wanted to check in and get some tea," the older woman wanted to explain.

"Things okay at the phone company?" Ruby asked. Everyone knew Peggy didn't actually work for the phone company, that it was an alias for whatever it was her Alpha actually still did for the military, but the pack gladly played along.

"Same thing, different day," Peggy replied.

"I'll be right back with your tea," Ruby said with a nod, her smile never wavering. She stood up and squeezed Peggy's shoulder as she went back towards the counter, feeling lighter knowing her friend and Alpha was no longer angry with her. When she got behind the counter, she tapped Angie on the back. The younger woman straightened up, her back to the customers so that she didn't have to look at Peggy. "Customer wants tea," Ruby announced.

"Can you get this one? You already took the order."

"It's your table. You get it."

"So take the tip," Angie hissed.

"Come off it, Angie. She can see you, and," Ruby lowered her voice unnecessarily as she said, "it isn't as if she can't hear everything we're saying." As if to prove a point, Angie turned slightly, her eyes flickering to Peggy who shifted in her seat and cleared her throat. "So get your tail from between your legs and go TALK to her," Ruby finished.

Angie glared at her best friend, and then went to Cook when he placed a plate of eggs on the hot counter. "No," she said simply as she took the plate and hurried to the young man on the other side of the automat. The man thanked her, but Angie was already on her way back to the kitchen, where she passed her friend without another word. Brewing the tea, Ruby muttered 'coward' under her breath. Movement in front of her made Ruby look up in time to see Peggy's head going down in shame or disappointment. Ruby brought the tea across the automat again to her Alpha. She noticed the older woman's tightened jaw, and if the brunette wasn't mistaken, she was sure that she saw a flash of jealousy as Peggy's eyes flickered to the young man and his eggs.

"I apologize for her."

"You don't have to. I understand."

"I'm not so sure," Ruby said softly, but she didn't elaborate on what she meant. "I think…" Ruby seemed to really consider her next words. "I think she needs time, one way or the other. See if you're sincere."

Peggy nodded as she touched the handle of her mug of tea. "I know."

VIII.

Angie wasn't sure how to feel when Peggy came back to the automat the following morning that every morning after that. Her Alpha's scent, especially now that Angie's wolf had matured, was everywhere in her workplace and she wasn't sure just what she was supposed to do with that. Before, she never would have noticed, but she knew Peggy's scent well, and it made her itch from the inside. Since her wolf matured, her senses in her Human form heightened, as did her hearing and sight. If she knew she would take in more of Peggy with these senses, she wouldn't have been so eager before to turn twenty five. Yes, she liked that her wolf was no longer in a puppy shape, that as a Human her face had slimmed and the baby face was finally gone, but she almost wished it all back whenever her chest ached every time she inhaled.

Her only refuge away from Peggy Carter was her home in the Griffith, and this made her even more appreciative of the freedom her own apartment gave her. Peggy never had any reason to go to the Griffith Hotel to visit her or Ruby yet, so all she could smell were her and Ruby's scents, on top of the cleaners and the occasional molding dinner roll Angie would hoard and later forget about, and this suited her perfectly. Otherwise Angie was sure she would go mad, or worse, be inappropriate with her Alpha. At the end of each day, Angie would sigh in her relief, breathing deeply until Peggy's scent seemed to leave her completely and she was able to relax. She would then berate herself for still feeling as she had for Peggy. She hoped over and over again for her wolf pup crush to dissipate. As both of her forms changed after her twentyfifth birthday, all she could think about was her new Alpha, and now that the woman had offered a rabbit to her… As much as Angie kept telling herself that it just couldn't happen, she would then replay the image of the last wolf's time, the rabbit dangling enticingly between sharp teeth, brown eyes watching her expectantly, and the hurt and disappointment that resided there later on. Her chest would stir and ache again each time, which only worsened when Ruby would look at her sympathetically every time Peggy entered the automat.

Angie hoped, at the end of that month as the moon waxed towards the following transition, that perhaps she could let go of the tenseness while at the queer women's club. Having learned her lesson over two years ago, Angie had told Ruby where she was going while the two of them cleaned up, which had only earned a look of concern from her friend. There was no need for it, Angie thought. She had no intention of finding anyone - she never had, but she always felt comfort in knowing there were other women the world who shared her desires, that were was an entire world for women like her that she hadn't yet explored. She wasn't sure if she ever would, as that is a world for the Humans, but she enjoyed just being in the company of women and away from the putrid scent of cologne that saturated the rest of New York. She wished while entering the hazy club that she could be with a human woman. She hadn't thought about it much before Peggy joined the Martinelli wolf pack, but the ache that Angie felt for so long only seemed to increase with every full moon. She had almost asked her father if she could take on a human mate, since she desired women and there would be no offspring to worry about, but then it had been announced within the pack that Peggy was taking his place and she didn't find it right to ask her instead. Despite what had happened during the last shift, she knew that it just couldn't happen. She couldn't let it. She couldn't do that Steve. Even if Peggy would have given permission to seek a mate outside of Werewolf packs, she knew she would have to be careful, since it was hard to tell which Human would be accepting of their life and who would be just like any of those Leviathan hunters. It just happened that Howard Stark was such a trustworthy person despite his lavish lifestyle, and really if the arrogant man hadn't had any gadgets on him, he would have died as soon as he entered the Martinelli territories.

What Angie hadn't expected was the shock of all of the scents in the air as she got through the empty speakeasy and down the stairs into its basement. The scents all shocked her at once, as this had been the first time she had visited the club in over two years. Each woman had left their mark, and the mix of pheramones was almost too much for Angie at first. She had to breathe through her mouth, and it took a while, while she made a drink order, to become accusomed to them all. Then, Angie felt herself relaxing into the rhythem of the band's music until a familiar scent filtered into her nostrils. The noise she let out almost showed her true nature. Angie shut her eyes tightly as she felt the all too familiar ache in her chest. "Why?" she whispered, knowing she would be heard above the voices and music.

"I'd hoped you'd dance with me," Peggy said. When Angie opened her eyes, blue met brown. The club was dark, but her Alpha's eyes seemed to glitter as the two women stared at each other. Angie closed her eyes again for a moment as she nodded. When she looked around for an empty spot on the dance floor, there was a hand on her arm. She tensed as her chest fluttered and Peggy's scent flooded her. Her teeth ached as it always did, and swallowed again in hopes of not showing this. "I'm not asking you as your Alpha."

"I don't understand," Angie admitted.

"You're under no obligation to dance with me or- or anything due to my position in the pack. I wish you would stop avoiding me. I was hoping we could talk before the next full moon. I am asking you, Angie, if you would like to dance with me. Like we did before."

"That-That…" Angie's head was fogging up. Were Peggy's hand not still upon her, she may have been able to clear it, but she couldn't. She felt a tug, and her feet moved in the direction her Alpha was taking her. Too soon she was leaving the club, and she wasn't sure it this was a good or bad thing.

"If the only way we will talk is because I ordered it, consider me tempted," Peggy said tensely as she led Angie outside to the sidewalk. Only when they were a few feet away from the entrance to the speakeasy did Peggy let go of Angie's arm. The younger wolf took a step back, her hand going to her stomach in a way that protected herself from whatever might come next. "Angie…" Peggy said quietly, "please." This made Angie look up at her Alpha. "Do you keep running from me because you feel the same way, or because you feel nothing at all?"

"Of course I feel the same way, Eng- Peggy," Angie replied, "that is the problem."

"Problem?"

"I can't - we can't- I-"

"Tell me why," Peggy said. She looked down.

Angie didn't need to say it, but still she choked out a single name. "Steve."

"Steve," Peggy murmured. "I thought so."

"My older brother - Your mate… We can't do that to him - to his memory."

"I understand." There was a pause. "I thought about that. A lot, actually. I loved Steve, you know that, just as I know you loved your brother… But I think… Should something have happened to him as it had, he would have wanted us to not be alone. He would have wanted us - his family, his mate… to find each other as we have. When he died, I searched for his family and his killer. I was both lucky and unlucky to find them both at the same time and place. I was certain in the time that followed that I'd never feel for anyone after him. I've heard of wolves who had second mates after the first passed, and I was adamant that that would not happen, that Steve was my one and only. Finding his hunter who had found you first, I felt the start of something I never should have felt again when we danced. I had not expected to be adopted into the Martinelli pack, let alone receive an offer to become the Alpha. At the time, I had expected to return to the English military, but I felt at home and just couldn't find the heart to leave.

"I found myself thinking about the dance we had. It drove me mad that you refused to speak about it. I don't remember wanting to befriend someone as much as I'd tried to speak to you. You were always polite, but I knew you weren't comfortable near me. I knew you felt at least something for me at first, but after that it was hard to determine what it was that was going on with you. The way you'd look at me always said as much, but... When you kept avoiding me a few months ago, I think that was when I knew how much I wanted you. It was when you stopped allowing yourself to be in the same room as me that I knew I'd always wanted you in the same room as me. "

Angie pressed her hand into her stomach more as she took this in. "I was changin'. My wolf was maturing. As much as I knew it couldn't happen, my wolf pup crush on you was getting out of control when your scent was everywhere."

"I think there was a part of me that knew this already."

Angie let silence linger for a moment, and then she let her curiosity ask her question. "Did Steve act that way, too?" Angie had always wanted to know more about her older brother's transformation. She knew when Steve had gone off to war that she would miss his change, but as a pup she always imagined he would be there when she went through her own change and hoped he would help her through it. She had considered asking Peggy before this, but she hadn't wanted to bring up painful memories for her.

"No, he was outgoing after a little while," Peggy replied easily.

"Ah," Angie murmured, letting it go silent again.

"He was shy at first, but then he was bolder during his change. After he and his wolf matured, he began to flirt. Or at least, he returned my flirtations. He… didn't have your concerns to hold him back, I suppose." Angie nodded at this. She took a moment to imagine her runt of an older brother being almost scared of Peggy at first, just as he had been for Jennifer Tolson, the Human girl he was sweet on in high school. She smiled, thinking that the fear of her was better off for him due to the fact that he wouldn't have been able to act on anything should she have returned his affection. Angie wondered what Steve was like when he finally got around to flirting back with Peggy, a small fond smile forming on her lips. "Angie," Peggy said, grabbing the younger wolf's attention again.

"Hm?" Angie looked up, her eyes locking with Peggy's once again. Her hands went down to her skirt, bunching some of the material before letting it go again.

"I want you to know that all of this… Asking you to be my mate… I am not doing this lightly. I'd known how I was feeling almost right away. When I had come to the conclusion that Steve would be okay should he be in some sort of afterlife knowing I had found another, I told myself then that only when I could commit myself to the Martinelli wolf pack, only when I felt sure that I could stay with your family for the rest of my life would I be ready to be with you. I think your father knew this in some capacity as well. He could have found his replacement in any of your brothers or cousins, but he kept asking me when Ruby only wished to be the pack's warrior. I refused the position, but I also had yet to say goodbye to the pack and leave. He continued to ask me every few months. Only in the summer when he asked could I accept without hesitation, and I knew. I waited until I was the pack's Alpha to try and…

"But I realize now how that may have come across. I do want to be with you, Angie. I believe I can protect you and hopefully we could be happy together in the pack. I can give you time - all the time you want or need and maybe I can try again after a while, but… If Steve's memory continues to linger between us and you still can't…" Peggy swallowed, her mouth tensing a bit as she fought to say her next set of words, "then I'll use my authority as Alpha to lift the ban against Human lovers for you. For you and for Ruby, even though she isn't a wolf of this world and therefore exempt already. I can tell her it is okay to be with Agent Sousa if that is her wish. I don't know how many female wolves beside you, me, and Ruby feel attraction to women, but I know that unlike Ruby and I, you are not at all attracted to men as well, leaving your prospective mates limited at best. I love you, Angie, and I don't want you to be lonely."

Angie stilled, her pupils dancing as she searched Peggy's face. "Boy, you sure know how to woo a girl," she eventually choked out, a tear sliding down her left cheek.

The laugh that Peggy let out was humorless at best. "That's the intention. I'm not experienced in this, I'm afraid. You're the only girl I wish to - er - woo." Peggy stepped forward, and Angie fought her newer habit to back as far away from the older woman as possible. Instead, she took a step foward. Peggy didn't hide her surprise, so used to the younger wolf leaving a space as soon as she'd enter it. It made her pause before she took that final step. She used her fingers to wipe the tear away, and swallowed again, this time in her nervousness. "May I…?" she asked. Angie had never seen the woman so flustered. Even in the month prior when she would come to the automat, Peggy always appeared collected and classy, per usual.

"Yes," Angie found herself saying, "you may." It was everything she fought against for two years - the last few months being another world war on its own since her change - but everything that felt as though it was missing in Angie's life was no longer screaming in her heart when she felt Peggy's lips on hers. Her breath caught as Peggy's arm wrapped around her waist, causing a light tickle on her lower back. She shuddered and pulled away long enough to take Peggy's face in her hands, stare into brown eyes, and then she brought the older woman in for another kiss. It was risky - dangerous even, as anyone could happen upon them, but hunter or no, Angie needed this woman's kiss.

"Please be mine, Darling," Peggy managed out when the two women parted again moments later.

"I'm yous," Angie replied without thinking. Her heart was in her throat.

Peggy let out a breath, which rushed Angie's lips. The older wolf's upper body pushed further into Angie as they came together again, their kiss putting the V-Day in Time Square kiss to shame. Angie was breathless when their cheeks touched. All she could do - all she wanted to do - was take in more air and more of Peggy's scent, and for the first time, she didn't mind that it made her teeth ache.

IX.

Angie felt Peggy against her back as she used her key to unlock the door. Peggy had told her on the walk up the stairs that Ruby had been sent to the Martinelli hunting lodge a night early. "You were planning this," Angie accused playfully.

"I had high hopes, but no," Peggy had replied. "I need for her to be there before me tomorrow, but I'd rather not talk about that right now." The two wolves seperated long enough to convince Mrs. Fry that Peggy had had a tiff with her husband and needed Angie's support and Ruby's bed for the night. Of course, since Mrs. Fry adored Ruby, Angie's roommate hadn't been asked after. Ruby as a result often came and went as she wished, not that she went anywhere that wasn't work or the Martinelli hunting lodge when she wasn't with Angie. Every once in a while she took to the sidewalks to clear her head, but no one ever seemed to notice her absences.

Once inside, Peggy stepped close again. "Do you know how long I've waited to mark you?" she murmured.

Angie's eyes fluttered shut as she took a step backards, pressing herself into Peggy's body. "Well you ain't gotta wait any longer," she replied, her voice airy.

"Angie…"

"Just take me to bed, will ya?" the younger wolf let out, her face going hot as Peggy grinned at her. Angie was glad that she couldn't see her Alfa's face.

"As you wish. I am, after all, submissive only to you," Peggy said. This made Angie blush harder.

"Shut up, English." Angie finally turned and the two women kissed again, Angie pulling Peggy further into the room. Their bodies stayed close as they fell onto the bed. The springs cried out slightly as Angie's back and shoulders hit the mattress. Angie hooked her legs so that their calves touched. Peggy's hands went up Angie's thigh, brushing over the hem of her of her skirt and allowing it to bunch up. Even on her stockings, Peggy's hands were warm, her fingers firm as they gripped her thigh. Angie sucked in air as the older woman hooked her fingers into her stockings and pulled. Angie began the process of removing Peggy's blouse. Peggy's kisses left the younger woman's mouth and went down to her jawline and then the right of her neck and shoulder as skin became exposed to her her right hand now running over the inside of Angie's thighs. Angie was then distracted away from her task.

Angie ran her hands through Peggy's hair as her Alpha left kisses and traces of her lipstick on her chest. Peggy's hand abandoned Angie's thighs and moved it to the top of the younger woman's skirt, her fingers fumbling over the buttons at the hip. The first button undone, Peggy then pull it off as well. Angie lifted her hips, her hands going to unhook her own bra. A moment later, Angie rested again against the pillows. Both women paused. Peggy's eyes taking in the new nakedness before her. She swallowed. When Angie reached for her, she leaned in, the younger woman's hands gripping the fabric of Peggy's collar, pulling her in as she had before at the club. Their lips crashed together, and a sound escaped the back of Angie's throat as fabric met naked skin. Time passed, both women content with the feel of their lips meeting again and again. Angie grabbed Peggy's left hand and guided it to her right breast. There, the hand rested momentarily. Angie felt the uncertainty, but she knew that Peggy would gain her confidence back. Then, Peggy's fingers moved over Angie's nipples. Angie brought her knees up as her back arched. She wanted more contact with her Alpha.

As Peggy lowered herself onto Angie completely, she moved down leaving kisses as she did so, and her lips sealed over the nipple. Angie moaned low in her throat, her knees and back resting again on the mattress. Peggy responded in kind. Angie could feel the flickering of Peggy's toungue and the wrinkling of her areola as it hardened further. Peggy's mouth then moved lower still, and Angie took a gasping breath at the sharp pain at her side, just below her left breast. Peggy's tongue ran over the bite. Angie twisted, using her hand to lift her breast for a better view of the new mark. Though her skin hadn't broken, she knew the mark would remain there for the rest of her days. "Oh Peggy," she breathed as the older woman kissed the mark again, her mouth lowering to Angie's stomach and hips before she began to leave kisses inside her thigh. Angie did her best to keep herself from squirming, but as soon as Peggy's mouth was on her, she couldn't keep her hips from moving. Peggy spread her, her thumb slowly moving in the wetness before the twitch of Angie's hips encouraged her to run her flattened tongue over the same spot.

Peggy let her mouth explore Angie's wetness, her mind going hazy with her new mate's scents and sounds. She obeyed any command given, eager to please Angie. She wasn't sure how long she took in Angie's slickness, fighting through the small ache in her jaw, when Angie cried out a sound that was unintelligible. She tried not to look as smug as she felt as she took in Angie's flushed skin. She left more kisses inside the younger wolf's legs until she felt the slight tug in her hair, and she looked up. Peggy climbed up Angie's body, leaving small nips and kisses until her lips crashed again with her mate's. Angie's hands went directly to the buttons on Peggy's blouse, her impatience knitting in her eyebrows when the process was too slow for her. She reached for the hem of the shirt and yanked upwards. Peggy backed away long enough to raise her arms. Angie removed er shirt easily after that, going straight for the bra to remove that too. Angie's eyes blazed as she took in Peggy's chest. Over her new mate's heart was a white mark that was, she suspected, similar to Angie's own bite mark. It was Steve's mark welted into her mate's skin.

Then, a thought seemed to occur to her as she ordered, "Turn around, Peggy."

"I-" Peggy began, but even as she spoke she did as she was told, backing up onto her knees and carefully repositioning herself so that she bare back was to her new mate. She waited, unsure why Angie had made the request until she felt fingers upon her skin that still tingled randomly at times. She shivered at the touch as she felt the contact of Angie's slow exploration of the bullet wounds. Sometimes, she was sure the skin was still broken and scabbing over as a dull ache came and went, but she knew it was silly. Ruby had once likened it to phantom pains, but Peggy knew that the phenomena happened to amputees, not gun shot victims. Peggy figured she would always feel the bullet wounds there, but seeing where her near sacrifice had brought her to now, she would never mind it. As Angie's arms wrapped around her and slow kisses were left on the bullet wounds, Peggy's mind went to the touches, her eyes fluttering shut as Angie's hands cupped her breasts and trailed down her stomach.

"I never did thank you for savin' me." Angie kissed Peggy's neck, the trail lowering to the older woman's shoulder until Peggy felt a familiar sharp pain on her skin where she realized Angie had bitten her just between the scars. There was a pause, and then the skin was released, and all that was heard then was heavy breathing from both women. Angie moved away and Peggy twisted so that she could look at the younger woman's face, which was still with horror and shock.

"Angie," Peggy prompted.

"I- I…" Angie stammered, wide eyed. "I didn't mean to," she got out.

"Mean to what? Mark me?"

"I-I wasn't sure if it would've been right, but my teeth were itchin' and-"

Peggy turned fully and took Angie's hand. "It's what I've wanted, Angie," she said softly.

"But Steve's mark…"

"I don't know if I understand," Peggy said slowly, hoping the younger wolf would elaborate further.

Angie took in a deep breath. "His mark is already there."

"But it is fading."

"I don't want it to!" Angie insisted. Tears welled in her eyes as Angie looked away from Peggy and the older woman felt she understood a little bit more what the matter was.

"A faded mark from my first mate doesn't mean faded memories of him. I'll still see it every day and should it fade completely, I'll still have other items and memories of him."

Angie was quiet for another moment or so as she thought about this. She sucked in more air and said, "Alright. I'm glad his is where you can see it easily, but I think I'm selfish enough to hope you'll always feel my mark on you as well."

Peggy kissed Angie's lips. "I think I understand," the older wolf replied. Angie's kisses returned and soon her hands went to Peggy's skirt. It wasn't long before the material fluttered to the floor. The younger wolf's hand cupped Peggy's sex, the middle finger sliding in to touch the nub there. She rubbed soft circles, only speeding up her pace or locking her wrist when instructed by her mate. Both women had mists of sweat on their foreheads by the time Peggy reached her climax, the older woman's hand gripping Angie's in place. Peggy let out a groan and Angie let the older woman regain her breath before she took her hand away. She lowered her body then so that she was laying practically on top of her mate now. Peggy dug her arm under the younger woman so that she could wrap it around Angie and bring her into her a little bit more.

"I can't believe that happened. After so long'a dreamin' about it," Angie admitted.

"Me either," Peggy said softly. "I'm glad our paths crossed, that I met you. I don't like the circumstances which led us here, but..."

"Yeah," Angie agreed. She felt Peggy's finger trace along the bite mark under her breast. It was silent between them for so long that if the finger on her hadn't stopped moving, she would have thought that Peggy had fallen asleep.

"There's somewhere I need to be tomorrow morning. Will you accompany me?"

"Of course," Angie said, slightly confused by the request, especially after what they had just done and become with eachother. "I'll go anywhere with you."

Peggy turned so that the to women slid together at the front. She smiled as she stroked her mate's hair. It wasn't long before Angie found herself drifting to sleep.

X.

When Angie made it to the Martinelli hunting lodge the next day, Ruby met her outside and engulfed her in a hug right away. "I did wonder why Pegs kicked me out of my apartment last night and told me to come up here instead," she said as soon as the two friends parted.

Angie grinned. "She had high hopes but no expectations."

"So she said, right?" Ruby asked. " 'No expectations' doesn't pay my taxi all the way up here," she said. The two women laughed until another scent came toward them that made Ruby freeze, her eyes wide in shock. "Ange?" she asked when she saw that the grin on her friend's face hadn't left.

The smile only got wider as Angie said, "I did wonder when you'd pick it up, and seriously I thought you would have caught it off me?" Her tone was just as teasing as Ruby's had been a moment before.

"Why is he here?"

"Why don't you wait for him to get here with Peggy 'n' he can tell you himself why he's here."

"Does your father know he is here?"

"Ya think Peggy'd do anying around here without talkin' to my dad first?"

"True, but-"

Angie gripped both of Ruby's shoulders, forcing the older woman to stop her visual search and look down at her. "Just... maybe breathe a bit wouldja? I ain't gonna tell you not to freak out because after the last month - hell, the last two years, I'm the last person who has the right to. Just wait until you hear everything he has to say first, alright?"

Ruby took in a deep breath and nodded. "Alright."

Angie patted her best friend's shoulder as Ruby always did for her, and then she turned when she heard the shuffles of feet and metal. Peggy was in front of Daniel Sousa as they walked along the path, kicking away larger stones and branches that fell. The path had for the most part gone ignored the past few years with minimal maintenance since everyone was able bodied enough to walk over or move around the small obsticles, but Angie silently vowed to take up the task herself should the man be a returning guest to the lodge. Something told her, though that Ruby would be first to help her, if her friend didn't take up the cause herself. Peggy had Daniel's suitcase and the bag Angie usually brought with her to the lodge. Though she had told her Alpha she could have carried it, Peggy had insisted under the guise of the bag also having her belongings in it as well, and Angie didn't argue it further.

Daniel stood before Ruby now, a sheepish look on his face. Angie moved away so that her friend could speak to the man properly, but it was silent until Peggy said, "Agent Sousa, I would like to welcome you to the territories of the Martinelli wolf pack. I'll make no introductions here, as you've met us all already."

Ruby looked to her Alpha and friend for an answer. "Peggy?" she asked after a moment more of silence.

"Even knowing Mr. Martinelli's rules against Werewolf and Human interactions and knowing he had exceptions for you, you never..." Peggy stopped, looking for something in Ruby's face, unsure if she should continue. "I don't think it was a secret, how you felt, and... how I felt for Angie. I wasn't sure what she may have wanted and I was willing to lift that ban for her, and for you." Looking to Sousa now, she said, "I knew I had read your name before once I found your file. The serum I take to remain Human during the full moon was developed for you specifically at first, and then modified later. I looked into your history to make sure you were a worthy person to know about this pack. Your life is... quite interesting, and it was the only reason you are allowed here."

Daniel nodded to this. He turned to Ruby and smiled again. "You see, uh... I am living evidence as to why Werewolves and Humans should not mate. My father's pack disowned him when he mated with my mother. They weren't sure if I would live very long but they did everything I could, took me to every doctor with connections to werewolves that they knew, and I somehow made it to adolescence. Not much is known about halfbreed children, as there were always so few, and most of us died in the first five years of life. Those who managed to survive were cast out or not seen as being Werewolves at all, since we have no wolf scent in our Human forms, and when we shift, it isn't a wolf shape, and the pain is... well..." He tapped one of his crutches. "I do have some advantages of wolves, such as great hearing and great sight, but little else. If I can manage the pain on some full moons, I can walk upright, but as my body is already..." He sighed. "I knew all along you were wolves because of the conversations I could hear in the automat. Miss Martinelli's nickname for me is also quite amusing."

"Sorry," Angie said. In her defense, it had been more than two years since she had referred to him as the crippled cop.

"It's quite alright," Daniel said. He looked to Ruby. "I was never too sure about you - about us. I knew that you thought me Human and I hoped you would remain thinking this way. I wasn't sure if your pack would accept a halfbreed, and seeing how my father was without that support, I knew I could never risk you losing your pack." Ruby nodded.

"I will take these inside. The rest of the pack will slowly arrive in the next few hours. Is there anything I can get or do for you, Mr. Sousa?"

"Please, call me Daniel."

"Of course, Daniel."

"And no, I think for now I am fine."

"Alright. I'll have Ruby show you around."

Daniel smiled and gave a small nod to acknowledge her words. He then watched as Angie and Peggy walked towards the house, lightly bickering over whether Angie should take one of the items. When he looked to Ruby again, she smiled at him. "This moon is the first in almost four years I haven't taken medication to stall the shift. I was wondering if you would walk with me tonight."

"Of course I will," Ruby replied. Daniel smiled again, this time relieved. "Won't it be painful?"

"Extremely, but what is the use of remaining Human when you've been invited to a Werewolf territory by an Alpha during the shift period? I would like to know you as you are in the moonlight, and... though I am hesitant to show you that form, I would like for you to know me then, too."

Ruby leaned forward and kissed Daniel's cheek. "I would like that very much."

XI.

Clouds slowly moved away from the full moon, and the expanding Martinelli pack, who stood outside in anticipation, all changed at once. The four playing children were now yipping wolf pups chasing eachother, their parents chasing after them. The Alpha of the pack looked over her new family, watching as the hunting party bounded into the thickest part of the forested land with only a look passed between them. Peggy and Mr. Martinelli stayed where they were as the other wolved dispersed. He was a darker brown in his wolf form than Angie was, and shared a few of the same markings as Franky's wolf of the same coloring. Mrs. Martinelli was almost white with some tan in her coat. Peggy wanted to make sure Daniel's shift went well, and she assumed Mr. Martinelli was curious about the shape Daniel's half wolf form would take under the moon's light.

Daniel was still crouched, his crutches off and leaning against the side of the house. He had let out a painful cry, which turned into a growl. He grew fur along the rest of his skin, and small fangs protruded slightly, his nose shrinking slightly to that of a wolf's. His arms were long and thin, as was the rest of his body, though he was taller than his human form. He huffed a few times when it finally finished, slowly getting to his feet. He caught his breath for another moment. He had changed into just a pair of shorts, knowing for a long time what would happen should he attempt to shift with clothes on. Daniel looked to Ruby, who had shifted into her dark, almost black form. The man-wolf tilted his head as he looked at her. He walked over to her, and then when she nudged at the cloak, he took the hint and picked it up. He brought it to his nose, and after inhaling, he placed the cloak over Ruby's back. Human again, Ruby stood before Daniel. She reached upwards and brought both hands to his face. He leaned down and she kissed his forehead. He let out a small huff that could almost have been a nervous laugh, steam leaving his lips. He slowly extended his elbow to Ruby, who took it without hesitation. Together, the two walked away.

Peggy caught Mr. Martinelli's eye. He dipped down so that his stomach touched the ground in a gesture of respect and approval to the new Alpha, and Peggy nodded before she trotted towards Angie, licking the younger wolf's snout when she reached her. The light brown wolf looked back at her parents, let out a small grunt of a bark, and then looked back at her mate as together they went off on their own run. Peggy slowed to a trot as Angie caught up, and their shoulders remained touching as they moved through the territory at an easy pace for a long time before the sound of the hunting party's victory howling nearly ripped through the air an hour later. Peggy was surprised, and the two mates went towards the howls. Ruby and Daniel had gotten there first, and Daniel was the one picking up the deer that had been taken down. The wolves around him jumped and ran around him, and the wolf-man seemed to take in this instant acceptance into the pack with some surprise. Peggy was slightly surprised as well. Though she hadn't said as much, her warning to treat him as any other wolf of the pack was implied when she had introduced him to the others. What had her the most shocked was the fact that a moment later Ruby picked up a second deer. She was glad for that, as there were more than thirty wolves to feed this wolf's time, and she knew everyone could partake in some of the meat instead of a small amount of meat and a large meal made by Mrs. Martinelli in the dawn light as was the autumn traditions she had witnessed in the last two years.

Peggy was taken out of her thoughts when the warmth at her side was suddenly gone. Angie had bound out of sight, and Peggy let out a small whine of worry. She heard a grumble and then the sound of bushes moving. Then, Angie reimerged with a raccoon in her mouth, which she placed at Peggy's feet. Before Angie could dip down as Peggy had done for her, Peggy picked up the raccoon, headbutt Angie, and the two of them trotted again towards the lodge for the night's feast. Ruby was on the porch as she always was, greeting the other wolves as they came back in. All of them huffed or wagged their tails at her in return. She smiled when she saw the raccoon in Peggy's mouth and the glint in her friend's eye, and had figured from there what Angie must have done. As soon as Peggy and Angie made it in and everyone shifted back into their Human forms, the meat was being cut up and passed around. Ruby brought some of the deer to Daniel, and the man took it gratefully. As Angie watched this, she hoped that this was her friend's happily ever after. She looked over to Peggy, and as she watched the Alpha speak with some of the children as she cut the raccoon and ate at that meat instead of the deer, Angie was glad that she had hers.


End file.
